Washington DC - Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance teamed up on Wednesday to introduce the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023.

Brown, a Democrat, and Vance, a Republican, are working across the aisle to establish new new federal safety regulations in the rail industry.

The bill, introduced in the aftermath of the devastating derailment in East Palestine, would require rail carriers to create emergency response plans for all trains transporting hazardous materials. They would also have to provide advance notice to emergency response commissions in each state the train enters and pay to train first responders on how to deal with toxic materials, the Associated Press reported.

On top of that, trains would have to have at least two crew members at all times, and the US Transportation Department would be compelled to reconsider its rules on train size and weight.

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The consequences for violating Transportation Department regulations would also be raised from the current limit of $225,000 to up to 1% of the railroad’s annual operating income, which could reach into the tens of millions.

"Through this legislation, Congress has a real opportunity to ensure that what happened in East Palestine will never happen again," Vance said in a statement. "We owe every American the peace of mind that their community is protected from a catastrophe of this kind."

"Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine and Steubenville and Sandusky," Brown added.

"These commonsense bipartisan safety measures will finally hold big railroad companies accountable, make our railroads and the towns along them safer, and prevent future tragedies, so no community has to suffer like East Palestine again."

Just one day prior, Representatives Chris Deluzio and Ro Khanna, both Democrats, introduced the Decreasing Emergency Railroad Accident Instances Locally (DERAIL) Act in the US House.

The bill seeks to "modify the definition of 'high-hazard flammable train' to mean a single train transporting one or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid or a Class 2 flammable gas and other materials the secretary determines necessary for safety."

The legislation would also require rail companies that have an accident to give the National Response Center, state and local officials, and tribal governments a list of any toxic materials involved within 24 hours after the wreck.

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"The people in East Palestine and western Pennsylvania are the working-class folks who feel invisible and abandoned by our nation," Khanna said in a statement.

"This is a moment where we need political leaders from all parties and from across the country to speak out loudly for better safety regulations and to acknowledge what so many Americans are going through."